Valentine’s Day is right around the corner! Whether or not you celebrate, who doesn’t deserve a date night (or a simple night out) every now and then? From cozy cafes to city buzz, I’ve compiled a list of my personal favorite places to take someone special – ranked by quality, price, accessibility, atmosphere and overall experience for a romantic evening out. Be sure to read until the very end for my #1 pick for this Valentine’s Day!

5. Parlor
Location: Kansas City (Downtown)

What do you get when you cross a food court and a bar? Well, you get Parlor; a vibrant and exciting host for Kansas City nightlife with doors open to guests of all ages. Parlor curates a regularly changing lineup of vendors that serve customers food-court-style, and, for guests over the age of 21, they have two bars between three levels. If you visit on a weekend, you might find yourself eating to the sound of live music, too! 

Price Range: $$
Vegan Friendly: Usually
Allergen Friendly: Usually
Menu: Parlor (current vendors)

4. Snooze, an A.M. Eatery
Locations: Kansas City (Westport), Overland Park

Snooze, an A.M. Eatery provides a unique dining experience centered around fresh ingredients, a cozy environment, and a vibrant atmosphere that simultaneously feels both retro and modern. The menu offers a variety of breakfast and brunch items ranging from pancakes to scrambles. The welcoming energy and wide variety of options make this the perfect place to start off your Valentine’s Day!

Price Range: $$
Vegan Friendly: Yes
Allergen Friendly: Yes
Menu: Snooze, an AM Eatery

3. Sweet Emotion
Location: Kansas City (The Northland)

What’s not to love about an ice cream shop offering a menu themed around early 2000s emo and alternative music? This charming stop combines sugar and nostalgia for a memorable and flavorful experience. It’s the perfect spot to hit for a tasty dessert, neighboring all kinds of fun date destinations in the Northland.

Note: This Valentine’s Day will fall on a Wednesday, which means RINO will be hosting stand-up-comics right on the other side of the curtain that separates the two spaces. Talk about a two-for-one deal!

Price Range: $
Vegan Friendly: Yes
Allergen Friendly: Yes
Menu: Sweet Emotion

2. Blue Sushi Sake Grill
Locations: Westwood, Kansas City (Power & Light District)

For sushi fanatics, there is no greater dining destination in the Greater Kansas City Area than Blue Sushi Sake Grill. The colorful and lively atmosphere creates an experience that visually combines traditional Japanese culture with American culture and the dynamic energy of urban nightlife. Between the extensive drink selection, delicious desserts and appetizers, and, of course, dozens of creative sushi rolls you won’t find anywhere else, Blue Sushi is top-tier!

Note: Be sure to book your reservation in advance! Due to popularity, a several-hour wait is not uncommon if you do not make a reservation on a high-traffic night like Valentine’s Day.

Price Range: $$$
Vegan Friendly: Yes
Allergen Friendly: Yes
Menu: Blue Sushi Sake Grill

Honorable Mentions…
Before I reveal my #1 pick for Valentine’s Day dining, here are a couple of restaurants I highly recommend planning a visit to, in addition to the other entries on my list:

Meshuggah Bagels
Locations: Kansas City (Power & Light District), Kansas City (Midtown), Overland Park

Description: Kansas City tribute to authentic New York and New Jersey bagels. A new location is coming to Liberty this February! 

Price Range: $
Vegan Friendly: Yes
Allergen Friendly: Yes
Menu: Meshuggah Bagels

Baba’s Pantry
Locations: Kansas City (Westport)

Description: Family-owned Palestinian restaurant with a menu consisting of recipes mailed to the owner, Baba, by his grandmother, Tayata, while seeking an education in the United States as a refugee.

Price Range: $
Vegan Friendly: Yes
Allergen Friendly: Yes
Menu: Baba’s Pantry

The Fix
Location: Kansas City (Downtown)

Description: Plant-based comfort food operating out of a renovated historic building near Martini Corner in Kansas City.

Price Range: $$
Vegan Friendly: Yes
Allergen Friendly: Yes
Menu: The Fix

Minsky’s Pizza
Locations: Liberty, Kansas City, Lawrence, Independence, Blue Springs, Lee’s Summit, and more

Description: Local pizza chain specializing in creative pizzas, pasta, sandwiches, salads, and more. Heart-shaped pizzas will be available at select locations this Valentine’s Day!

Price Range: $$
Vegan Friendly: Yes
Allergen Friendly: Yes
Menu: Minsky’s Pizza

Mud Pie Bakery & Coffee
Location: Overland Park

Description: Plant-based bakery with a variety of sweets and savory goods, including everything from pastries to sandwiches. Both Valentine’s Day and “anti-Valentine’s Day” Mostess will be available to those who order before they sell out! 

Price Range: $
Vegan Friendly: Yes
Allergen Friendly: Yes
Menu: Mud Pie Bakery & Coffee

1. The Tree Hugger Kitchen
Location: Riverside, MO

The Tree Hugger Kitchen takes the #1 spot on my list for its wide selection of food, dedicated staff and unique ability to make your dining experience feel like an indoor picnic. Complete with a shelf full of board games, rustic décor, comfortable seating and delicious food, I could not think of a better restaurant to spend quality time with my favorite person. Bring your stay-at-home date night to The Tree Hugger Kitchen this Valentine’s Day for a peaceful dining experience you’re sure to remember!

Price Range: $$
Vegan Friendly: Yes
Allergen Friendly: Yes
Menu: The Tree Hugger Kitchen

This summer, a new bar named “Fern Bar” will be coming to Downtown Kansas City. Fern Bar is an agave and sugarcane-centric bar. Although the bar is stil being renovated, it appears there is a strong sense of what the future business will be. On Fern Bar’s website, it states that the Fern Bar is “willing to create a culture of community and hope, to stand out, to stand up and say: There’s a better way to do things,” and driven through a team of world-class hospitalists, they are to be housed in an inviting and connected space This short introduction to the bar shows a dedication to its craft and an introduction to its mission. So far the company has established some branding principles, a logo, its future location at the Crossroads, and some possible menu items. 

During the last week of March, Fern Bar held an early pop-up event in anticipation of its future opening. At this event, the business was able to showcase all the hard work that has been put into Fern Bar thus far. The pop-up contained a variety of drinks that were in the spirit of its agave-forward mission. The drinks I tried were the margarita and the Daiquiri. The margarita was made from Libélula tequila Joven, Tapatio Blanco, Duckett curacao, lime, and agave. The Daiquiri was made from Probitas blended rum, Gustoso Mexican rum, Uruapan Charanda Blanco, lime, and Demerara. These drinks were bright, refreshing, and thoroughly developed. They were also served in glasses that were visually alluring. Tacos Valentina, a local taco restaurant, and Casio Mccombs, a local DJ, were also present at the event. The event was held at Big Mood Natural Wines, a warm and eccentric wine store in the Crossroads. This was fitting as Fern Bar will be opening its upcoming location at 2045 Broadway Blvd in Downtown Kansas City. 

Interacting with the owner of Fern Bar, Bryan Arri, at the event was insightful. He’s an enthusiastic individual passionate about great cocktails. He shared parts of his vision for Fern Bar at the event as well as expressed his thanks for those who came to support him and his new business. The event appeared to be successful. Personally, I enjoyed the food, drinks, and music that were present. Other people looked as if they were enjoying themselves as well. There was also a line extending through the door for the majority of the night. Although it is not yet known what exactly Fern Bar will look like, the spirit and community of  Fern Bar seems supportive. Although there is no set date for when the bar will be opened, it is estimated for late summer of 2023. Until then, I will be looking forward to re-visiting!

With Valentine’s Day rapidly approaching, you may be scurrying to woo your loved one. For many college students, this may be a gruesome task. Traditional date ideas are often costly and time-consuming; these are two scarce resources for college students. Valentine’s Day is about showing your significant other how much you care for them and the best way to do so is by trying something new together that caters to your relationship’s individual needs. If you are having a busy week or waiting on your next paycheck, you can still have an exciting and romantic Valentine’s Day with your partner. Here are three time and budget-friendly Valentine’s Day date ideas:

Go to a nice restaurant and order off the kids’ menu

You and your significant other can enjoy a romantic dinner at a nice restaurant without breaking the bank. Make a reservation at your favorite local restaurant and order off the kids’ menu. Although this date idea may seem atypical, it is an amazing opportunity to break the ice and get to know each other or even to strengthen long-lasting bonds. Many times, restaurants will offer the same delicious foods you love for half the price. Luigi’s Italian Restaurant on the square in downtown Liberty is a great restaurant for a kids’ menu date. This restaurant offers classic Italian favorites such as fettuccine alfredo, ravioli, lasagna and spaghetti on their kids’ menu for only seven dollars each, and you won’t be disappointed in the portion sizes. However, if you happen to have room for dessert, they have shareable-sized options such as cheesecake, cannolis and tiramisu for only eight dollars. 

Have a study date

A study date can be great for college students to spend time with their significant other while catching up on their to-do lists. Many of us are finding that multiple exams and due dates for important assignments are being scheduled for early in the week or even on Valentine’s Day. Students may feel they must spend the majority of their time on school and may be lacking time to spend with their partner. If you are experiencing this stress, your partner may be as well. In these situations, there is nothing wrong with connecting with your loved one while being simultaneously productive. 

Study dates can be enjoyed in a variety of different ways and in many places. If the weather is nice, lay a blanket in the grass on the quad any time of day or head to the picnic tables in the butterfly garden at the Martha Lafite Thompson Nature Sanctuary between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. any day of the week. If the day requires a cozy, inside location, head to a coffee shop with a fluffy blanket. The most convenient café is The Beak on the top floor of the PLC but if you are looking to get off campus, Hammerhand in Liberty is always an excellent choice. 

Bring the movie theater experience to your home

Another traditional Valentine’s Day date is a night out at the movies. However, an at-home movie night can be much cozier and a better bonding experience than going to a theater. Instead of remaining silent throughout the movie, you and your loved one can discuss as much as you want.

 Whether you have a television, a computer or your school-issued iPad, you can find a cozy couch or bed and stream movies of any genre. Popular romance movies that you can stream for free include “A Moment in the Reeds” (on Tubi), “A Rainy Day in New York” (on Peacock and Vudu), and “Carol” (on Tubi, Pluto TV, Roku and Vudu).

To make the experience feel even more like a movie theater, purchase snacks to eat during the movie. The Cardinal Store on the Quad-level floor of Curry Hall has great snacks for movie-watching. The snacks are affordable and you can even use your Cardinal Dollars to pay for your purchase.

A night at home watching movies can be the perfect way to spend Valentine’s Day in one another’s arms. 

The restaurant industry has been hit especially hard throughout 2020, as many restaurants cannot re-open due to COVID-19 precautions, and many patrons do not go to those that are open in an effort to reduce risk in the community. Since the first lockdown in March, the food service industry has lost $165 billion in revenue and is likely to end the year having lost $240 billion. Additionally, customer spending in restaurants has been down 34 percent so far this year. 

Kansas City has experienced the effects of these losses as countless, especially local, restaurants continue to shut down because of the insurmountable disruptions COVID-19 imposed on the industry. This article is the first in a series exploring the effect of COVID-19 losses on individual restaurants in Kansas City. 

Happy Gillis Cafe & Hangout

Happy Gillis Cafe & Hangout – owned by chefs Abbey-Jo and Josh Eans since 2013 – has been a staple in the Columbus Park neighborhood. The breakfast and brunch spot serves sandwiches, breakfast classics and seasonal offerings on their rotating menu. 

The couple, who also lives in Columbus Park, opened Columbus Park Ramen Shop two years later in their 350 square-foot garage. Both restaurants are beloved by Kansas Citians for their commitment to supporting local producers and, above all, really good food. However, like most restaurants, COVID-19 forced the Eans’s to temporarily shutter their small neighborhood restaurants until it was safe enough to re-open. 

Happy Gillis has since re-opened for weekend brunch and their new meal kit service. The Hilltop Monitor was able to talk with Abbey-Jo Eans about how their restaurant is doing during this time and the state of Kansas City restaurants in general. 

Eans began by discussing the perilous situation the restaurant industry is in right now. 

“I think [the current state of the restaurant industry] is pretty scary. I think that we have some really great independent restaurants, and the challenge is that they have the hardest time because they don’t have deep pockets, they usually don’t have big investors,” Eans said. “I’ve been telling people lately that I feel simultaneously super grateful and I can’t believe that we were closed and now we’ve reopened and people are coming back. Like, not many places can do that and not many places can make it through what we’re making it through. But at the same time I feel really freaked out because: oh my gosh, are there enough people coming and how will I make it through the winter and what will happen… It’s kind of just a lesson in this crazy speed of running after something super hard and also holding things kind of loosely so you can be appreciative as the positive things come in so that you can keep going and you can tackle the next challenge.”

The COVID-19 safety measures put out by the city have not really affected how the Eans run their business. According to Eans, it’s actually a matter of being clear about their commitment to safety. 

“We’re kind of doing a lot of the same things that we would do anyway. Like restaurants that are successful, they do make sure that their spaces are clean and sanitized… It’s kind of just taken to the next level… We serve on paper now and I’m hoping that that will change in the future and we can go back to using dishes and stuff,” said Abbey-Jo Eans. 

A lot of changes had to be made to Happy Gillis for the Eans’s to continue their business and still be successful. One such change was the creation of their meal kit delivery and pick-up service. Customers can order meals that feed 2-4 people, sides and kitchen staples like eggs and vegetables through Happy Gillis. The food is delivered on Fridays or can be picked up during brunch hours on Saturday and Sunday. Still, changes that have been made in response to COVID-19 have been reactionary, calling their permanence into question.

“We still don’t really know what [changes] are going to be permanent. I think for us, we kind of switched really quickly. For Happy Gillis specifically, we shut our dining room down like two weeks after everything happened. It was maybe in mid-March we had to let our whole staff go and then by the end of March we had our dining room closed and we’ve been working on these meal kits… So we switched. The permanent changes for us are that we have this new kind of like baby business model that we created and I think that’s something that will stick forever. I think that people have learned through the inconvenience of COVID-19, we’ve kind of learned how to get things more conveniently – like having to have everything delivered,” Abbey-Jo Eans said. 

Although Happy Gillis is now open for weekend brunch and the meal-kit service, the Eans’s other restaurant, Columbus Park Ramen, remains closed for the time being. 

“[Columbus Park Ramen] is kind of – I don’t want to say difficult – but it is a difficult situation. The ramen shop is in a garage so there’s no social distancing space available. It would be almost impossible to use that space, so I think that’s been a huge challenge for us and I think that right now what we’re doing is we’ve just put it on hold. We don’t have an opening date yet because it’s just not feasible… If it was my only business it would be even harder. People that have had to close their doors for the one business that they do [have],” Abbey-Jo Eans said. “It’s not that it’s less hard… I’m not saying at all that we can afford to let it go. But I think because we have Happy Gillis there’s something to kind of help keep us going. We had to decide how to best focus our energy because this time is just financially draining, it’s emotionally draining and we needed to focus somewhere. For us Happy Gillis is where we really started down here and so we just felt like that was where we could feasibly work with.”

It is challenges like these that have been plaguing restaurant owners since the start of the pandemic. Figuring out how to stay open and feed people in a safe way is an ever-changing and not easily accomplished task. Happy Gillis – a small corner restaurant that used to have 14 tables – is down to five tables inside the restaurant and additional tables outside on their sidewalk. 

Sidewalk and patio seating, like Happy Gillis has done, has been a sort of salvation for restaurants this summer. Since restaurants had to eliminate much, if not all, of their indoor dining space to comply with COVID-19 health regulations, patio seating offers a place that customers can sit safely outside with proper air circulation and distance. However, winter brings a new set of challenges as the cold weather will likely put an end to outdoor seating. This means Kansas Citians will need to dedicate themselves to preserving the restaurants they love. 

“I don’t know what’s going to happen in the winter. I don’t know if Kansas Citians are going to be ready to push through and still eat outside when it’s cold… Sometimes we’re not able to be open, you know, like some other restaurants that can just be open all the time. Sometimes we’re just not able to do that and we’re doing our best,” Abbey-Jo Eans said. “The situation is kind of requiring everyone to go a little bit beyond what’s maybe the most comfortable and the most convenient… It’s also hard because we want people to come but we’re also not in a financial place where we can go out to eat all the time and support places. So it’s a weird fine balance of, like I said before, of being super appreciative that people are coming and spending their money here but also trying to help people understand that by doing that, we need them to do it more, we need them to do it more consistently and just more in order to survive.”

Over the course of the pandemic, the constantly precarious situation that restaurant staff and owners live in has become clear. Wages depend on tips, and a restaurant’s profit depends on being at or over capacity. With tips lessening or disappearing during the lockdown and subsequent decrease of dining, and restaurants only being able to seat about half of their normal clientele, people are losing their income, and restaurants are closing. That is why wages are one of the things Abbey-Jo Eans hopes changes after the pandemic. 

“I really hope that our labor force and what we pay people and the kinds of working environments that people have and the restaurant culture itself, I hope that that’s changed for the better… People need to understand that the people cooking their food make minimum wage sometimes… like we have to get to this place where that’s not acceptable anymore. We can push it all day, but if people don’t support it it’s never going to work,” said Eans. “I mean, if the wage goes up, which is awesome, then we have to charge more. And if people really understand what the cost of food is – which hopefully they are learning that as they are having to go to the grocery store themselves now and buy and cook at home more – hopefully all those things will kind of spur change for the better.”

Above all, the lockdown and its effects have hopefully shown Kansas Citians the importance of constantly supporting the places that they love. If people want restaurants to stay open, to keep serving their delicious and creative food, and to maintain Kansas City’s status as a hidden gem for foodies, they have to support local. 

Restaurants provide us with good food and comfort, especially during times like these. When we buy and eat local we are supporting other Kansas Citians, like Abbey-Jo and Josh, in keeping their dreams alive – as well as ensuring we have spaces to continue to frequent. Local restaurants have been there to give us comfort during everything from nights out to business meetings to stay at home orders – now it’s our turn to support them.

To support Kansas City restaurants and food service workers, visit KC Runs on Hospitality